Comparison theorems on H-type sub-Riemannian manifolds (Q6984657)

This paper develops a unified framework of comparison theorems for sub-Riemannian geometries of H-type. The authors establish uniform sub-Hessian and sub-Laplacian comparison theorems that hold across a family of Riemannian metrics converging to a sub-Riemannian limit. This approach resolves a key difficulty in geometric analysis -- namely, that curvature quantities tend to diverge under the canonical variation of Riemannian metrics approximating a sub-Riemannian structure. A central novelty lies in proving uniform comparison estimates for the horizontal Laplacian of the distance function, which remain valid for all parameters \(\epsilon>0\) and converge smoothly to sharp sub-Riemannian inequalities as \(\epsilon\to 0\). By introducing an intrinsic geometric splitting of the tangent bundle and using the Hladky (Bott) connection, the authors derive \(\varepsilon\)-independent curvature bounds that make it possible to transition rigorously from the Riemannian to the sub-Riemannian regime. Furthermore, the paper establishes a sharp sub-Riemannian Bonnet-Myers theorem for general H-type manifolds, extending previous results known only for special cases such as Sasakian, 3-Sasakian, and quaternionic contact structures. The paper also provides a new proof of the smooth convergence of the approximating Riemannian distances to the sub-Riemannian one outside the cut locus, a result of independent interest. Overall, the paper significantly broadens the scope of classical Riemannian comparison geometry by providing a systematic and uniform method for extending its theorems to the rich and complex setting of H-type sub-Riemannian manifolds.